2015 Ford F150 goes on a diet, loses 700 lbs. (Aluminum)
 

i just learned the 2015 Ford F150 will drop 700 lbs (out of 5000) by making its body 97% out of aluminum. that should boost economy a lot.

the frame will still be high strength steel.

http://www.ford.ca/trucks/f150/2015/

they've also anounced their 2.7L ecoboost engine

Ha - kind of? :D

I'll split that to a new thread.

700/5,000 = 14%.

That relates to a 7% mileage increase, right? One MPG?

should help urban MPG alot. hwy, not so much.

also improve cargo capacity, towing capacity, accel, braking, and it's less momentum to crush little cars in a crash

Why not fiber glass like they have or had done with their beds?

Less weight is good, means you can haul more stuff
That is part of the reason I switched to LiFePO4 batteries, they save me at least 100lb.

FE improvement through weight reduction is a hard expensive way to pick up MPGs.

My Ranger is around 2975 curb weight. My 97 F150 was 3800. The base stripper 2015 will shed 700# from the previous models 5000#? Man they porked out!

regards
Mech

Gutsy move by Ford. Hope they pull it off. There will be any number of wags claiming Aluminum will be difficult/impossible to repair after a collision... but if Ford preps their shop people right, it shouldn't be any more difficult than steel.

What's even more amazing to me is that they're claiming prices will not go up (significantly or at all)... this could mark a milestone for aluminum use in automobiles.

Note that there are areas that are still steel, because it's still too hard to make them in aluminum... hence 97% instead of 100...

Pretty sure some article said they're going to lose profit margin by using the aluminum. Loss leader parts.

Per vehicle yes, but if their fuel milage is better than the other guys they can make up the gross profits through more units sold.
If sales go on as normal and no one seems to care they can always just raise the price later on.

i think they said it was all the same alloy too, so that should simplify repairs a little bit.

audi's and jags have been all aluminum for the last little while. I think repair shops will be capable.